The analysis of nucleic acids is widely used in clinical and applied fields, as well as in academic research. Biological samples, e.g. tissue samples used for cancer research and diagnosis, frequently contain heterogeneous mixtures of cells. In the research and healthcare field, it is desired to obtain as much information from each subpopulation of a mixed cell population as possible.
There has been a long-felt need in the field to provide more detailed information from trace samples, and this has not been fulfilled by previously known methods.
Removal of regions of interest from microscopic samples followed by DNA sequencing of the removed areas is known from e.g. S J Murphy et al: DNA Res. 19, 395-406 (2012) and the product bulletin “Applied Biosystems Arcturus HistoGene LCM Immunofluorescence Staining Kit” CO14933 0710, Life Technologies Corp. 2010 (https://tools.lifetechnologies.com/content/sfs/brochures/cms_086334.pdf). The selection of the regions of interest is here however based on simple histological staining or single protein immunofluorescence staining and manual identification. There is thus a need in this field for more accurate and objective identification of regions of interest to be subjected to sequencing.